EP0501333B1 - Ladungsgekoppelter Bildsensor mit Zwischenzeilen- und Bildrasterübertragung - Google Patents

Ladungsgekoppelter Bildsensor mit Zwischenzeilen- und Bildrasterübertragung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0501333B1
EP0501333B1 EP92102935A EP92102935A EP0501333B1 EP 0501333 B1 EP0501333 B1 EP 0501333B1 EP 92102935 A EP92102935 A EP 92102935A EP 92102935 A EP92102935 A EP 92102935A EP 0501333 B1 EP0501333 B1 EP 0501333B1
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Prior art keywords
section
horizontal
horizontal shift
transfer
signal charges
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French (fr)
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EP0501333A3 (de
EP0501333A2 (de
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Isao Hirota
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Sony Corp
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Sony Corp
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N25/00—Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
    • H04N25/70—SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith
    • H04N25/71—Charge-coupled device [CCD] sensors; Charge-transfer registers specially adapted for CCD sensors
    • H04N25/713—Transfer or readout registers; Split readout registers or multiple readout registers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
    • H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
    • H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
    • H01L27/146—Imager structures
    • H01L27/148—Charge coupled imagers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N25/00—Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
    • H04N25/70—SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith
    • H04N25/71—Charge-coupled device [CCD] sensors; Charge-transfer registers specially adapted for CCD sensors
    • H04N25/715—Charge-coupled device [CCD] sensors; Charge-transfer registers specially adapted for CCD sensors using frame interline transfer [FIT]

Definitions

  • FIGS. 1 through 3 An example of a vertical FIT type solid state image sensor according to the prior art is shown in FIGS. 1 through 3.
  • Each of the vertical shift registers 5 and 6 in the imaging section 1 and the storage section 2 employs a 4-phase driving system and is controlled, for example, by 4-phase drive pulses ⁇ IM 1 , ⁇ IM 2 , ⁇ IM 3 , ⁇ IM 4 and ⁇ ST 1 , ⁇ ST 2 , ⁇ ST 3 , ⁇ ST 4 .
  • 4-phase drive pulses ⁇ IM 1 , ⁇ IM 2 , ⁇ IM 3 , ⁇ IM 4 and ⁇ ST 1 , ⁇ ST 2 , ⁇ ST 3 , ⁇ ST 4 As shown in FIG. 2, four transfer sections VR (VR 1 , VR 2 , VR 3 , VR 4 ), each having a transfer electrode are made 1 bit.
  • two transfer sections VR 1 , VR 2 and two transfer sections VR 3 , VR 4 correspond to the light receiving elements 4, respectively.
  • hatched areas 8 represent channel stop regions.
  • the horizontal shift register 3 of the output section employs, for example, a 2-phase drive system in which it is controlled by 2-phase drive pulses ⁇ H 1 and ⁇ H 2 .
  • a first storage section st 1 , a first transfer section tr 1 , a second storage section st 2 and a second transfer section tr 2 form one bit and this 1 bit corresponds to one vertical shift register 6 of the storage section 2.
  • FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A - A in FIG. 2.
  • the horizontal shift register 3 on the surface of a P-type silicon substrate 11 formed is an N-type buried channel layer 12, and transfer electrodes 14 are formed through an insulating film 13 on the buried channel layer 12, thus the respective transfer sections, that is, the first storage section st 1 , the first transfer section tr 1 , the second storage section st 2 and the second transfer section tr 2 being formed.
  • the transfer electrodes 14 of first storage section st 1 and first transfer section tr 1 are connected commonly to a bus line to which the drive pulse ⁇ H 1 is applied, while the transfer electrodes 14 of second storage section st 2 and second transfer section tr 2 are commonly connected to a bus line to which the drive pulse ⁇ H 2 is applied.
  • the signal charges of the light receiving elements 4 are read out to the vertical shift registers 5 through the read-out gate sections 7, transferred through the vertical shift registers 5 and then temporarily stored in the storage section 2.
  • the signal charge at every horizontal line is transferred from the storage section 2 to the horizontal shift register section 3.
  • the signal charge of one horizontal line transferred to the horizontal shift register section 3 is transferred in the horizontal direction in the horizontal shift register section 3 and then outputted.
  • FIG. 4 shows an example of a horizontal type FIT solid state imaging element 16 (described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-125077).
  • This horizontal type FIT imaging element 16 is formed such that the storage section 2 is located at one side of imaging section 1 in the horizontal direction and the horizontal shift register section 3 of the output section is located at the lower side of the storage section 2 in the vertical direction.
  • a number of light receiving elements 4 are arrayed in a matrix configuration and at one side of each row of horizontally-arrayed light receiving elements 4, there is located a horizontal shift register 17 which corresponds to the vertical shift register 5 of the former example.
  • the horizontal shift register 17 can employ a 3-phase drive system which is controlled, for example, by 3-phase drive pulses ⁇ IM 1 , ⁇ IM 2 and ⁇ IM 3 shown in FIG. 4.
  • three transfer sections VR VR 1 , VR 2 , VR 3 ), each having a transfer electrode, are made as 1 bit and this 1 bit corresponds to each light receiving element 4.
  • the signal charge from each of the light receiving elements 4 is transferred to the horizontal shift register 17 through the read-out gate section (ROG) 7, transferred in the horizontal direction and then stored in the storage section 2 temporarily.
  • ROG read-out gate section
  • the storage section 2 comprises a plurality of horizontal shift registers 18 which correspond to the horizontal shift registers 17 in the imaging section 1 at one-to-one relation (1 : 1).
  • the adjacent horizontal shift registers 18 are coupled through a gate section (transfer channels SR 5 controlled by a gate electrode) 19 for transferring the signal charge in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 5.
  • Each of the horizontal shift registers 18 employs, for example, a 4-phase drive system which is controlled by 4-phase drive pulses ⁇ ST 1 , ⁇ ST 2 , ⁇ ST 3 , ⁇ ST 4 and in which four transfer sections SR (SR 1 , SR 2 , SR 3 , SR 4 ) are made as 1 bit and two transfer sections SR 2 , SR 1 in the upper horizontal shift registers 18 are coupled through the gate section 19 to two transfer sections SR 4 , SR 3 in the adjacent lower horizontal shift register 18.
  • SR transfer sections SR
  • the gate section 19 is formed in a slant direction in order to couple the transfer sections which are displaced each other by a half bit.
  • the vertical transfer of the signal charge to the output side thereof (to the horizontal shift register section 3) is carried out in a so-called zigzag fashion in which the charges in the transfer sections SR 2 , SR 1 are transferred to the transfer sections SR 4 , SR 3 by a half bit in the horizontal direction and then transferred to the transfer sections SR 2 , SR 1 of the lower stage of the horizontal shift register 18.
  • the horizontal shift register section 3 of the output section is formed of two horizontal shift registers, namely, a first horizontal shift register 20 and a second horizontal shift register 21.
  • the first and second horizontal shift registers 20 and 21 are coupled through a gate section (i.e., a transfer channel controlled by a gate electrode) 22.
  • Each of the first and second horizontal shift registers 20 and 21 employ, for example, 2-phase drive system which is controlled by 2-phase drive pulses ⁇ H 1 and ⁇ H 2 .
  • a first storage section st 1 , a first transfer section tr 1 , a second storage section st 2 and a second transfer section tr 2 form one bit which corresponds to one bit of the horizontal shift register 18 of the storage section 2.
  • the second storage and transfer sections st 2 and tr 2 of the first horizontal shift register 20 are coupled to the first storage and transfer sections st 1 and tr 1 of the second horizontal shift register 21 through the gate section 22.
  • the corresponding storage and transfer sections of the first and second horizontal shift registers 20 and 21 are formed to correspond to one another in the vertical direction so that the gate section 2 is formed to be inclined.
  • the horizontal shift register section 3 there is line-transferred the signal charge of the horizontal line from the storage section 2. That is, signal charges of the light receiving elements 4 on, for example, an odd horizontal line are transferred to the first horizontal shift register 20, while the signal charges of the light receiving elements 4 on an even horizontal line are transferred to the second horizontal shift register 21. Then, these signal charges are transferred at the same time in the horizontal direction so that the signal charges of two horizontal lines are outputted simultaneously.
  • the horizontal pitch 16 can be designed freely.
  • the horizontal pitch of the horizontal shift register section 3 at the output section can be designed with a room. Therefore, even when the imaging section 1 is made high in image density, the horizontal shift registers 20 and 21 of the output section can be formed. Thus, it is possible to make the FIT type solid state imaging element with high image density.
  • a width W 1 of one pixel (one cell) a of the imaging section 1 corresponds to a transfer channel width W 2 of the vertical shift register 6 in the storage section 2 and then a horizontal pitch (i.e., length of one bit) X 1 of the horizontal shift register section 3 at the output section is determined correspondingly. Therefore, if the number of pixels, particularly the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is increased, then the length X 1 of one bit in the horizontal shift register section 3 is reduced, which requires a fine pattern technique. Further, the transfer channel width W 2 of the vertical shift register 6 is reduced so that various problems such as the deterioration of transfer efficiency or the like occur.
  • the horizontal type FIT solid state imaging element 16 if as shown in FIG. 7 the area of one pixel (one cell) a in the imaging section 1 is selected to be the same as that of FIG. 6, then a horizontal pitch (i.e., one bit length) P of the horizontal shift registers 18 in the storage section 2 can be increased so that a horizontal pitch (one bit length) X 2 of the horizontal shift register section 3 at the output section can also be increased.
  • the solid state imaging element 16 can be made high in pixel density.
  • the horizontal pitch P of the horizontal shift registers 18 in the storage section 2 is selected to be long, then the chip size of the whole solid state imaging element becomes large and the ratio between the width W and the length L of the horizontal shift register 18 is reduced so that the transfer efficiency of the storage section 2 in the frame transfer (i.e., when the signal charge is transferred from the imaging section 1 to the storage section 2) is lowered.
  • the ratio between the width W and the length L in the frame transfer is increased.
  • the ratio between the width W and the length L of the transfer channel during a so-called line transfer in which the signal charge is transferred from the imaging section 2 to the horizontal shift register section 3 is reduced (in an inverse proportion fashion) and hence the transfer efficiency is lowered.
  • the density of pixels is increased, then the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is increased so that the frame transfer frequency in the storage section 2 and the horizontal transfer frequency in the horizontal shift register section 3 are increased, which needs large electric power.
  • Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol.13, no.277, (E-778)(3625), June 26, 1989 (JP-A-1 064 472) discloses a vertically aligned CCD area image sensor including a selecting gate which transfers the signal charges of a first vertical register either to a second or third vertical register.
  • the second vertical register is coupled to a first horizontal register
  • the third vertical register is coupled to a second horizontal register.
  • Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol.11, no.31, (E-475)(2478), January 29, 1987 (JP-A-61 198 981) discloses an pickup device having an image pickup part and two storage parts. Of the electric charges accumulated in the image pickup part, those in odd-number lines are transmitted to the first storage part, and those in even-number lines are transmitted to the second storage part.
  • a charge coupled device image sensor having the features of appended claim 1.
  • reference numeral 31 denotes an imaging section, 32 a storage section which temporarily stores the signal charges from the imaging section 31 and is located at one side of the imaging section 31 in the horizontal direction, and 33 a horizontal shift register section of an output section which is located under the storage section 32.
  • the image section 31 is formed of a number of imaging or light receiving elements 34 arrayed in a matrix configuration and a horizontal shift register 35 of a CCD structure located on one side of each of the rows of horizontally-arranged light receiving elements 34 for transferring the signal charges from the light receiving elements 34 to the storage section 32.
  • a read-out gate (ROG) 37 is provided between each of the light receiving elements 34 and the horizontal shift register 35 for reading out the signal charge from each light receiving element 34 and transferring the same to the horizontal shift register 35.
  • ROG read-out gate
  • Each of the horizontal shift registers 35 employs, for example, a 3-phase drive system which is controlled by 3-phase drive pulses ⁇ IM 1 , ⁇ IM 2 , ⁇ IM 3 and in which three transfer sections VR (VR 1 , VR 2 , VR 3 ), each having a transfer electrode, are made as one bit and this one bit corresponds to each light receiving element 34.
  • a 3-phase drive system which is controlled by 3-phase drive pulses ⁇ IM 1 , ⁇ IM 2 , ⁇ IM 3 and in which three transfer sections VR (VR 1 , VR 2 , VR 3 ), each having a transfer electrode, are made as one bit and this one bit corresponds to each light receiving element 34.
  • a plurality of cells corresponds to one pixel (one cell) a of the imaging section 31 in the vertical direction. Accordingly, in order that the light receiving elements 34 arranged in one horizontal line (row) of the imaging section 31 correspond with a plurality of horizontal shift registers, in this embodiment, two horizontal shift registers 38a, 38b, a plurality of the horizontal shift registers 38 are provided. Therefore, the number of cells of each horizontal shift register 38 in the horizontal direction is 1/2 of the number of light receiving elements 34 of each horizontal line in the imaging section 31 in the horizontal direction.
  • the signal charges of one horizontal line in the imaging section 31 are stored through a serial-to-parallel converting section 40, which will be described later, in two horizontal shift registers 38a, 38b in a divided condition. That is, the signal charges at every other light receiving elements 34 of one horizontal line are stored in the first horizontal shift register 38a, while the signal charges at the remaining every other light receiving elements 34 of the same horizontal line are stored in the second horizontal shift register 38b.
  • Each of the horizontal shift registers 38 employs, for example, a 4-phase drive system which is controlled by 4-phase drive pulses ⁇ ST 1 , ⁇ ST 2 , ⁇ ST 3 , ⁇ ST 4 and in which four transfer sections SR (SR 1 , SR 2 , SR 3 , SR 4 ), each having a transfer electrode, are made as one bit.
  • the adjacent horizontal shift registers 38 (38a, 38b) in the vertical direction are coupled through a gate section (i.e., a transfer channel SR 5 controlled by a gate electrode to which an independent gate voltage is applied) 39.
  • This gate section 39 is formed between two transfer sections SR 2 and SR 1 forming a half bit of the upper horizontal shift register 38a and two transfer sections SR 4 , SR 3 forming a half bit of the lower horizontal shift register 38b. Since the respective transfer sections SR 1 , SR 2 , SR 3 , SR 4 of each horizontal shift register 38 are formed in correspondence with one another in the vertical direction, the gate section 39 is inclined so as to couple the transfer sections which are displaced by a half bit.
  • transfer sections VR 1 and VR 2 are so provided in the vertical direction that they correspond to two horizontal shift registers 38a, 39b in the storage section 32, and a gate section (i.e., a transfer channel ⁇ controlled by a gate electrode to which an independent gate voltage is applied) is provided between the transfer section VR 2 which corresponds to the first horizontal shift register 38a and the transfer section VR 1 which corresponds to the second horizontal shift register 38b.
  • a gate section i.e., a transfer channel ⁇ controlled by a gate electrode to which an independent gate voltage is applied
  • the transfer section VR 1 corresponding to the first horizontal shift register 38a at the upper stage is coupled to the last stage of transfer section VR 3 of the horizontal shift register 35 in the imaging section 31.
  • gate sections ⁇ are formed, respectively.
  • the horizontal shift register section 33 of the output section there are provided two sets of horizontal shift registers one set of which is formed of two horizontal shift registers 43a, 43b, that is, totally four horizontal shift registers 43 (43 a1 , 43 b1 , 43 a2 , 43 b2 ) in correspondence with the first and second horizontal shift registers 38a, 38b in the storage section 32.
  • Each of the four horizontal shift registers 43 employs a 2-phase drive system which is controlled by 2-phase drive pulses ⁇ H 1 , ⁇ H 2 and in which four transfer sections, namely, a first storage section st 1 , a first transfer section tr 1 , a second storage section st 2 and a second transfer section tr 2 form one bit.
  • the storage section st 1 , the transfer section tr 1 , the storage section st 2 and the transfer section tr 2 are so formed that they correspond to the transfer sections SR 1 , SR 2 , SR 3 and SR 4 in the storage section 32, respectively.
  • the above conversion is carried out by switching means.
  • the transfer sections SR 4 , SR 3 of the lowermost horizontal shift register 38 in the storage section 32 are coupled to the first storage section st 1 and the first transfer section tr 1 of the uppermost horizontal shift register 43 in the horizontal shift register section 33 through the gate section 39.
  • a hatched area 48 is a channel stopper region.
  • the signal charges from all the light receiving elements 34 of the imaging section 31 are transferred to the horizontal shift registers 35 through the read-out gate sections 37 (all pixels are read out), transferred through the horizontal shift registers 35 to the storage section 32 and then temporarily stored therein.
  • the signal charges transferred through the horizontal shift registers 35 in the imaging section 31 are divided by the serial-to-parallel converting section 40 into the signal charges of every other light receiving elements (odd-numbered elements) 34 of one horizontal line and into the signal charges of remaining every other light receiving elements (even-numbered elements) 34 of the same horizontal line.
  • the signal charges of odd-numbered light receiving elements 34 are transferred through the gate section 41 to the lower stage transfer section VR 2 , while the signal charges of the even-numbered light receiving elements 34 are transferred to the upper stage transfer section VR 2 . Then, both signal charges are transferred at the same time through the gate sections 42 ( ⁇ ) to the corresponding horizontal shift registers 38a and 38b in the storage section 32, respectively. The above transfer of signal charges is repeated so that the signal charges are transferred to the storage section 32 in a so-called frame transfer fashion.
  • the signal charges of the light receiving elements 34 on each horizontal line or row are distributed to the first and second horizontal shift registers 38a and 38b in the storage section 32.
  • the signal charge of the odd-numbered light receiving elements 34 on the horizontal line are sequentially stored in the respective cells of the second horizontal shift registers 38b, while the signal charges of the even-numbered light receiving elements 34 on the same horizontal line are sequentially stored in the respective cells of the first horizontal shift register 38a. That is, as shown in FIG.
  • the horizontal shift register 33 After the signal charge of the first storage section st 1 is transferred to the second storage section st 2 by a half bit in the horizontal direction, the signal charge is transferred through the transfer channel ⁇ of the gate section 44 to the first storage section st 1 of the horizontal shift register 43 at the lower stage in a zigzag fashion in the vertical direction.
  • the signal charges of the first and second horizontal shift registers 38a, 38b corresponding to one horizontal line are transferred to the third and fourth horizontal shift registers 43 a2 , 43 b2 in the output section.
  • the signal charges of the first and second horizontal shift registers 38a and 38b corresponding to the next one horizontal line are transferred to the first and second horizontal shift registers 43 a1 and 43 b1 at the output section, respectively.
  • the signal charges in the first to fourth horizontal shift registers 43 a1 to 43 b2 are transferred in the horizontal direction, and then from the first serial-to-parallel converting section 45, there are alternately delivered the signal charges of the first and second horizontal shift registers 43 a1 and 43 b1 , while from the second serial-to-parallel converting section 45, there are alternately delivered the signal charges of the third and fourth horizontal shift registers 43 a2 and 43 b2 .
  • the signal charges of the odd- and even-numbered horizontal lines are simultaneously delivered in the order of the signal charges on one horizontal line in the imaging section 31. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the signal charges are delivered from the one output in the order of e 11 , e 12 , ..., e 16 , while from the other output in the order of e 21 , e 22 , ..., e 26 , respectively.
  • one pixel (cell) a of the imaging section 31 corresponds to a plurality of cells arranged in the vertical direction in the storage section 32, or two cells b1 and b2 in this embodiment (see FIG. 9) and the serial-to-parallel converting section 40 is provided between the imaging section 31 and the storage section 32, whereby the signal charges on one horizontal line of imaging section 31 are stored in the two horizontal shift registers 38a and 38b in the divided state.
  • the number of cells of the storage section 32 in the horizontal direction can be reduced to 1/2 of the number of cells of the prior-art horizontal FIT solid state image sensor 16 shown in FIG. 4.
  • the total length of the storage section 32 in the horizontal direction can be reduced as compared with the prior-art example shown in FIG. 4, the total chip size of the solid state image sensor of the present invention can be reduced. Further, since the number of cells of the storage section 32 becomes 1/2, the length of each cell in the horizontal direction can be increased on the contrary, which means that the horizontal length of the cell of the horizontal shift register section 33 at the output section can be increased. As a result, the fine pattern technique for the transfer electrode and so on of the horizontal shift register section 33 and the storage section 32 can be avoided.
  • the ratio between the width W of the transfer section and its length L upon line transfer becomes twice as large as that of the prior-art example shown in FIG. 4, so that the transfer efficiency can be improved.
  • the cell size of the storage section 32 in the horizontal direction is not dependent on the optical system, the freedom in its vertical direction is increased.
  • the horizontal transfer frequency in the horizontal shift register section 33 and the frame transfer frequency in the storage section 32 can be reduced to 1/2 of those of the prior-art example shown in FIG. 4. As a consequence, the transfer efficiency can be improved and also the amount of signal charges processed can be increased.
  • the freedom of designing the storage section 32 and the horizontal shift register section 33 at the output section can be improved both in the horizontal and vertical directions, it is possible to obtain the optimum cell size of the storage section in view of the transfer efficiency, the amount of processed signal charges, the accuracy of the fine pattern technique and the chip size.
  • the high pixel density can be promoted in this kind of solid state image sensor.
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 although one storage section 32 is disposed at one side of the imaging section 31 in the horizontal direction, the storage section 32 may be provided at both sides imaging section 31. This example is shown in FIG. 10.
  • first and second storage sections 32A and 32B are located at both sides of the imaging section 31 in the horizontal direction, and first and second horizontal shift register sections 33A and 33B of the output section are respectively located beneath the first and second storage sections 32A and 32B.
  • the imaging section 31 of this embodiment comprises the eight receiving elements 34 the number of which is the same as that of the imaging section 31 shown in FIG. 8 and the horizontal shift registers 35 corresponding to respective horizontal rows of the light receiving elements 34 (in FIG. 10, for the sake of explanation the number of light receiving elements 34 on each horizontal row is 8)).
  • the first storage section 32A comprises two cells in the vertical direction for one pixel (one cell) of the imaging section 31 and four horizontal shift registers 38 (38a, 38b, 38c, 38d) for each of odd-numbered horizontal lines in the imaging section 31.
  • a first serial-to-parallel converting section 40A is provided between the first storage section 32A and the imaging section 31.
  • the second storage section 32B comprises four horizontal shift registers 38 (38a, 38b, 38c, 38d) for each of even-numbered horizontal lines symmetrical with respect to the first storage section 32A and a second serial-to-parallel converting section 40B is provided between the second storage section 32B and the imaging section 31.
  • Each of the first and second horizontal shift register sections 33A and 33B at the output section has four horizontal shift register sections 43 (43a, 43b, 43c, 43d) corresponding to the four horizontal shift registers 38 of each of the first and second storage sections 32A and 32B and whose structure is similar to that shown in FIG. 9A.
  • serial-to-parallel converting sections of inverse conversion type e.g., switching means similar to those of FIG. 9
  • 45A, 45B to return the signal charges from the horizontal shift register 43a through 43d to the signal charges of one horizontal line and then deliver the same.
  • the imaging section 31 except for the fact that the averaging order of the transfer sections VR 1 to VR 3 of the horizontal shift registers 35 on the odd- and even-numbered horizontal lines are inverted to transfer the signal charges in the opposite directions, its remaining structure is substantially the same as that of the imaging section 31 shown in FIG. 9.
  • the averaging order of the transfer sections SR 1 to SR 4 of each of the horizontal shift registers 38 is inverted to transfer the signal charges in the opposite directions in the horizontal direction and the remaining structure thereof is substantially the same as that of the storage section 32 shown in FIG. 9.
  • the transfer sections VR 1 , VR 2 are made as 1 cell and the cell number thereof is increased to 4 and the transfer sections VR 1 , VR 2 are arranged so as to transfer the signal charges in the opposite directions vertically.
  • the remaining structure thereof is substantially the same as that of serial-to-parallel converting section 40 shown in FIG. 9.
  • the signal charges of the light receiving elements 34 of the odd-numbered horizontal lines in the imaging section 31 are read out to the horizontal shift register 35, transferred to the left-hand side horizontally as shown in FIG. 10 and then respectively transferred to the four horizontal shift registers 38a to 38d of the first storage section 32A through the serial-to-parallel converting section 40A in a divided form so as to be stored therein.
  • the signal charges e 11 to e 18 of the odd-numbered horizontal lines for example, are stored in the first to fourth horizontal shift registers 38a to 38d as shown in FIG. 10.
  • the signal charges of the light receiving elements on the even-numbered horizontal lines in the imaging section 31 are read out to the horizontal shift register 35, horizontally transferred to the right-hand side of FIG. 10, respectively transferred through the second serial-to-parallel converting section 40B to the corresponding four horizontal shift registers 39a to 38d of the second storage section 32B in a divided form and then stored therein.
  • the signal charges e 21 to e 28 of the even-numbered horizontal lines are respectively stored in the first to fourth horizontal shift registers 38a to 38d as shown in FIG. 10.
  • the signal charges of the four horizontal shift registers 38a to 38d of the respective storage sections 32A and 32B are respectively transferred to the four horizontal shift registers 43a to 43d of the first and second horizontal shift register sections 33A and 33B.
  • the signal charges are simultaneously transferred within the respective horizontal shift registers 43a to 43d, alternately outputted from the serial-to-parallel converting sections 45A and 45B, outputted from the first horizontal shift register section 33A in the order of the signal charges on the odd-numbered horizontal lines in the imaging section 31 and then simultaneously outputted from the second horizontal shift register section 33B in the order of the signal charges on the even-numbered horizontal shift register.
  • the first horizontal shift register section 33A outputs the signal charges e 11 to e 18 of the odd-numbered lines
  • the second horizontal shift register section 33B outputs the signal charges e 21 to e 28 of the even-numbered lines, respectively.
  • the horizontal transfer frequencies of the horizontal shift register sections 33A, 33B and the frame transfer frequencies of the storage sections 32A, 32B are lowered to 1/2 as compared with those of the solid state imaging element 46 of FIG. 8, accordingly, 1/4 as compared with those of the conventional solid state image pickup element of FIG. 4, thereby the transfer efficiency being increased and the amount of signal charges to be treated being increased.
  • the storage sections 32A and 32B are symmetrically provided with respect to the imaging section 31, the center of the chip constructing the solid state image sensor element can be made closer to the optical center.
  • While the two horizontal shift registers 38a, 38b are provided in the storage section 32 for the light receiving element of one horizontal line so as to allow the two cells to vertically correspond to one pixel (one cell) of the imaging section 31 as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of horizontal shift registers, for example, more than two horizontal shift registers are provided in one pixel (one cell) in a divided form such that a plurality of cells, for example, more than two cells correspond vertically to one pixel (one cell). Simultaneously, the horizontal shift registers the number of which corresponds to the number of the divided horizontal shift registers are provided in the horizontal shift register section 33.
  • the fine pattern technique of the horizontal shift register section in the output section, the transfer electrodes of the storage section or the like are not needed and the entire chip size constructing the solid state image sensor can be reduced.
  • the transfer efficiency upon line transfer can be increased.
  • the horizontal transfer frequency of the horizontal shift register section and the frame transfer frequency of the storage section can be reduced.
  • the transfer efficiency can be increased and the amount of signal charges to be processed can be optimized.
  • the cell size of the storage section in the horizontal and vertical directions can be increased in freedom and the design of the same can be optimized with ease. Therefore, the density of pixels in the solid state image sensor can be increased more.

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Claims (5)

  1. Bildsensor mit ladungsgekoppeltem Bauteil, mit:
    - einem Bilderzeugungsabschnitt (31) mit einer Vielzahl matrixförmig angeordneter fotoelektrischer Umsetzabschnitte (34) zum Erzeugen von Signalladungen, und einer Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegistern (35), die zwischen den horizontalen Zeilen der photoelektrischen Umsetzabschnitte angeordnet sind, um die Signal ladungen über einen Ausleseabschnitt in horizontaler Richtung zu übertragen;
    - einem Speicherabschnitt (32) mit einer Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegistern (38) zum Übertragen der Signalladungen, wobei diese Horizontalschieberegister (38) so miteinander verbunden sind, dass sie Signalladungen vertikal übertragen und gleichzeitig durch Halbbitverschiebungen in horizontaler Richtung übertragen, so dass Signal ladungen auf Zickzack-Weise übertragen werden; und
    - einer Ausleseeinrichtung (33), die mit dem Speicherabschnitt verbunden ist und eine Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegistern (43) aufweist, um Signalladungen aus dem Speicherabschnitt auszulesen;
    gekennzeichnet durch
    - eine seriell-Parallel-Umsetzeinrichtung (40), die zwischen dem Bilderzeugungsabschnitt und dem Speicherabschnitt vorhanden ist, um die Signalladungen aus jedem Horizontalschieberegister (35) des Bilderzeugungsabschnitts in eine Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegistern (38a, 38b; 38c, 38d) des Speicherabschnitts einzuspeichern;
    - wobei die Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegistern (38a, 38b) des Speicherabschnitts, wie mit demselben Horizontalschieberegister (35) des Bilderzeugungsabschnitts verbunden, so miteinander verbunden sind, dass sie Signalladungen vertikal und gleichzeitig durch Halbbitverschiebungen in horizontaler Richtung übertragen, so dass Signalladungen auf Zickzack-Weise übertragen werden.
  2. Bildsensor mit ladungsgekoppeltem Bauteil nach Anspruch 1, bei dem jedes unter der Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegister im Speicherabschnitt auf seiner Eingangsseite einen Torbereich enthält.
  3. Bildsensor mit ladungsgekoppeltem Bauteil nach Anspruch 2, bei dem die Seriell-Parallel-Umsetzeinrichtung ein Paar Übertragungsabschnitte aufweist, die mit jedem Ausgang der Anzahl von Horizontalschieberegistern des Bilderzeugungsabschnitts verbunden sind, und einen zwischen dem Paar von Übertragungsabschnitten vorhandenen Kanal, der durch eine Torspannung gesteuert wird.
  4. Bildsensor mit ladungsgekoppeltem Bauteil nach Anspruch 2, bei dem das Paar Übertragungsabschnitte der Seriell-Parallel-Umsetzeinrichtung mit entsprechenden Torbereichen des Speicherabschnitts verbunden ist.
  5. Bildsensor mit ladungsgekoppeltem Bauteil nach Anspruch 1, bei dem der Speicherabschnitt in zwei Bereiche unterteilt ist, die zu den beiden Seiten des Bilderzeugungsabschnitts vorhanden sind.
EP92102935A 1991-02-27 1992-02-21 Ladungsgekoppelter Bildsensor mit Zwischenzeilen- und Bildrasterübertragung Expired - Lifetime EP0501333B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP32989/91 1991-02-27
JP3032989A JPH04271678A (ja) 1991-02-27 1991-02-27 固体撮像素子

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0501333A2 EP0501333A2 (de) 1992-09-02
EP0501333A3 EP0501333A3 (de) 1992-09-16
EP0501333B1 true EP0501333B1 (de) 1996-12-11

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Country Link
US (1) US5317408A (de)
EP (1) EP0501333B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH04271678A (de)
KR (1) KR920017463A (de)
DE (1) DE69215715T2 (de)

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DE19533361C1 (de) * 1995-09-09 1996-10-31 Pco Computer Optics Gmbh Bilderfassungssystem mit einem als Interline-Transfer-Sensor ausgebildeten CCD-Sensor und Verfahren zum Steuern eines solchen CCD-Sensors
JP3213529B2 (ja) * 1995-11-30 2001-10-02 三洋電機株式会社 撮像装置
DE19619186C1 (de) * 1996-05-02 1998-01-02 Pco Computer Optics Gmbh Verfahren sowie System zur Erstellung eines Bildes
EP0888685B1 (de) * 1996-10-03 2004-12-29 Dalsa Corporation Ladungsgekoppelte bildaufnahmeanordnung und verfahren zur betätigung einer derartigen anordnung
US7053941B1 (en) 1999-08-19 2006-05-30 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Image input apparatus
JP4450941B2 (ja) * 2000-04-12 2010-04-14 富士通マイクロエレクトロニクス株式会社 固体撮像素子、画像処理装置及び画像処理方法
JP4972298B2 (ja) * 2005-08-10 2012-07-11 株式会社日立ハイテクノロジーズ 半導体デバイスの欠陥検査方法及びその装置
JP4734270B2 (ja) * 2007-02-15 2011-07-27 東芝マイクロエレクトロニクス株式会社 固体撮像装置及びその駆動方法

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JPS61198981A (ja) * 1985-02-28 1986-09-03 Canon Inc 撮像装置
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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0501333A3 (de) 1992-09-16
EP0501333A2 (de) 1992-09-02
DE69215715T2 (de) 1997-06-19
US5317408A (en) 1994-05-31
JPH04271678A (ja) 1992-09-28
DE69215715D1 (de) 1997-01-23
KR920017463A (ko) 1992-09-26

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